Hearts Entwined
by Lena108
Summary: A year after their encounter with the remaining members of Organization XIII, Sora, Riku and Kairi are living peaceful lives at home on Destiny Island. That is until a mysterious message in a bottle reaches them one day. The rest of the summary inside.


Hearts Entwined

By: Lily (Lena) Evans

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A year after their encounter with the remaining members of Organization XIII, Sora, Riku and Kairi are living peaceful lives at home on Destiny Island. That is until a mysterious message in a bottle reaches them one day. Once again, Sora is called upon to save the world, this time with Riku at his side. As they leave Kairi on the islands, they learn that their task will not be possible without the hearts of others to join them. Yaoi.

A/N: Some information may be inaccurate as I haven't seen the secret ending of KH2 yet. I did what research I could to make it as accurate as possible. I certainly hope everyone enjoys the fic.

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Chapter 1: Threads of Fate

The moon shone brightly over Radiant Garden and all was unusually still. Even the Heartless seemed to be sleeping. Leon knew that couldn't be true, and yet he hadn't encountered one all evening. He took only the slightest moment to look up toward the roof of Merlin's house, curious to see where all the Heartless may be lurking. All within a split second, he felt a tap on his shoulder, pulled his gunblade out and pointed it at the offender.

Cloud. He was standing a few feet away and staring straight at the blade. Apparently he had known how Leon would react to that as there was a completely neutral expression on his face, not that such a thing was unusual. Leon slowly lowered his weapon and gave the other male a deep frown.

"Don't do that."

"I came to say goodbye," Cloud stated, ignoring Leon's request.

"Goodbye?" Leon inquired, slightly surprised. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah." Leon studied him a moment before nodding slowly, keeping his expression neutral.

"Good luck." Cloud nodded his head slightly before turning to leave. Leon hesitated a moment, suddenly wishing he could be more like Sora. He always knew how to react in situations like this—he was never afraid to admit that he was sad or angry. However, he was Leon, so there was only one thing he could think to say. "Cloud."

"Hm?" The other man stopped and tilted his head back to look at Leon once again.

"Don't forget about me, okay?" Leon crossed his arms, a small smirk appearing across his lips. Cloud stared at him for a moment before nodding once again.

"It's a promise, Squall." Leon flinched slightly at that name, but let it slide as Cloud had already walked away from him.

Leon watched him go, knowing that both would live up to their promise, whether they met again or not. Somehow, though, he had a feeling that they would. He had no more time to dwell on it, though, for it was then that the Heartless appeared.

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"Hey, Sora!"

"Is he sleeping on the beach again?"

"Sora! Get up silly!" Sora opened his eyes, only to immediately close them again as the sun was shining brightly right above him. The now sixteen year old groaned and stretched before tilting his head back to look at his friends. Kairi was giggling softly while Riku shook his head in exasperation.

"No sense in sleeping the day away."

"Okay! I'm up! I'm up!" Sora sat up and rubbed his eyes before standing and turning around. "Happy now?"

"Much better!" Kairi giggled again.

"Now we can actually do something," Riku stated with a smile.

"Yeah," Sora said, stretching again and smiling widely. "Like what?"

"Well, Tidus and Wakka are having a ball game tournament between the two of them," Riku gestured a little further up the beach. "Why don't we go check it out? Selphie will be there too."

"Okay!" Sora smiled a bit more and gave Riku a playful shove to the shoulder before taking off up the beach. "Race you there!" Kairi giggled and ran right after Sora, leaving Riku dumbstruck for a few seconds. Then, a grin spread across his face as he followed suit.

"You're not going to win, Sora!" he called, catching up. Kairi stopped as Riku managed to reach out and grab a hold of Sora, trapping him in a friendly headlock. Riku then ruffled up his hair as Sora attempted to pull his head free.

"Hey! Not fair!" Sora finally found an opening and pulled himself free of Riku's grasp, only to trip over a bottle that had washed up right behind him. He winced slightly and Riku and Kairi laughed.

"Graceful," Riku told him sarcastically.

"Be nice," Kairi told him, reaching a hand down to help Sora up, stifling giggles. Sora took her hand and used it to help him stand. He then pulled the cork out of the bottle and glanced at the note that was inside it.

"It's got the king's seal!" he announced. At that, Riku and Kairi both huddled around him to read the note over his shoulder.

_Sora and Riku,_

_I sure hope you get this letter quickly. The worlds need your help right away. There are some mighty strange things are happening. The Gummi Ship will be waiting for you. Hurry!_

"That's all it says," Sora told them needlessly, turning the paper over to check the back.

"Does that mean you're leaving again?" Kairi asked, frowning deeply.

"I guess so," Riku said, smiling apologetically. "We'll be back really soon, though."

"You're leaving me behind again?" Kairi demanded, crossing her arms. "Why do I always get left out of everything?"

"This'll probably be dangerous, Kairi!" Sora protested, feeling rather bad that they were just going to leave Kairi when it seemed like she really wanted to go.

"And I handled danger just fine last time, remember?" Riku shook his head.

"It might be worse," he said. "We don't know what's threatening the worlds and what if something happens to you?" Sora thought that Kairi was going to protest again, but it was obvious that Riku had his mind made up.

"All right," Kairi said reluctantly, sighing. "But as soon as you get back you have to tell me all about it, okay?"

"That's a promise!" Sora stated, smiling over at Riku. "Right?"

"Right." Riku smiled as well. "We'll be back as soon as we can, Kairi."

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you," she stated. "Don't let me down, okay?"

"Okay!" Sora smiled as Kairi turned to head toward the ball game. "So… where's the Gummi?" Almost immediately after he'd uttered those words a bark was heard behind them. Pluto allowed them to get a good look at him before he bounded off in the opposite direction. "Hey! Wait up!" Sora and Riku both broke into a run to keep up with the dog that they hoped would lead them to the Gummi Ship the king promised would be there.

It took them a while to get there as they had lost track of Pluto and ran in the wrong direction. The dog, seeming just as cheerful as ever, had led them back to the path and straight toward the Gummi. Once inside, Chip and Dale easily maneuvered it off the islands and into space.

"Where are we heading?" Sora asked, tilting his head to the side as they passed Disney Castle.

"We're going to Radiant Garden!" Dale announced.

"The king asked for Leon and Cloud to come too!" Chip added. Riku nodded slightly, though he seemed to have thought they were going straight to Disney Castle.

"That's great!" Sora grinned. "Let's hurry!" Riku glanced over at the other boy and smiled slightly.

Upon arriving in Radiant Garden, everything looked just as it had been the way they left it a year earlier. Shops were up and running and people were going to and from their houses through the town.

"So, where is this Leon?" Riku asked, crossing his arms over his chest while surveying the town.

"He's probably at Merlin's," Sora pointed. "Come on, Riku!" The two of them ran past the shops toward Merlin's house. Once they reached that area, Sora noticed that things were certainly different there. Several Heartless were roaming about and the town's security system was going like never before. Sora frowned deeply and glanced at Riku, who already had his weapon drawn.

"We'll fight our way through!" Riku announced, apparently weighing the odds against the approaching Heartless. Sora nodded and drew his Keyblade then charged forward, destroying the Heartless that stood in his path.

They reached Merlin's house, though not as quickly as either boy would have liked. Riku seemed to be getting rather annoyed, while Sora was worried. Once they made it to Merlin's door, they opened it and slipped inside, slamming it behind them to keep the Heartless out. The first person they saw was Aerith, who looked slightly troubled at their worn out state.

"Sora! Riku! When did you two arrive?" She stooped over to help them further into the house.

"Just now," Sora told her with a grin.

"We need to talk to Leon," Riku told her, getting straight to the point. Aerith nodded, but the voice that spoke came from behind her.

"I'm right here," Leon stated, approaching them with a frown.

"Why are there so many Heartless out there?" Sora asked, frowning slightly. Leon shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't know."

"They just showed up one day and they haven't left," Yuffie piped in, moving over to them and away from Cid, who seemed too involved in the computer he was seated at. "A whole bunch of Nobodies have been around too."

"The Nobodies have been around?" Riku frowned deeply.

"Yeah, it's weird," Yuffie stated, though managing to smile at the two of them. "Maybe it's just a coincidence that you guys showed up!"

"What did you want to talk about?" Leon asked suddenly. Sora looked up at him, bewildered for a moment.

"Oh, yeah! The king sent us a message in a bottle and told us to come see him, but I guess he wants you to come too," Sora told him. Leon was silent for a moment, studying both Riku and Sora. He was about to speak, but Yuffie clapped a hand onto his shoulder and cut him off.

"Go with them, Leon!" she told him. "Leave it to us to hold down the fort!"

"But—" This time it was Aerith who cut him off.

"Go with them, Leon," she said, smiling kindly. "We can handle everything. Don't worry." Leon nodded, a faint trace of a smile playing at his lips before he turned to Riku and Sora.

"All right, I guess my mind is made up. Let's go."

"What about Cloud? We were told to bring him too," Riku stated, crossing his arms.

"Cloud?" Leon frowned deeply. "He left in search of Sephiroth a few days ago."

"You mean he didn't defeat him last time?" Sora asked. "And now he's gone again? Aw, man! Now what?"

"Well, why don't we find him?" Riku suggested. Leon's frown deepened, but Sora perked up considerably.

"Yeah! Do you know where he headed, Leon?" Sora glanced at him, smiling once again.

"I think I have an idea, granted he might be long gone by now…"

"But he might not! Let's go find him!" Riku smiled as well. Leon glanced at Yuffie and Aerith, who both waved and smiled at him. He sighed softly and shook his head, but followed Sora and Riku to the Gummi Ship.

And thus, their journey began.

END CHAPTER 1

A/N: I do hope that was all right. I'm trying my hand at a new fandom, so give me concrit, people! Review please! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Always,

Lily


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